


Like a Four-Leaf Clover

by HisagiJ69



Category: Pandora Hearts
Genre: Book - Freeform, F/M, Little Sharon, after Break comes from the Abyss, cute Sharon, garden, mention of reim-san, mention of the Rainsworth ladies
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-07-12
Updated: 2015-07-12
Packaged: 2018-04-08 23:21:04
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,199
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4324728
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HisagiJ69/pseuds/HisagiJ69
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Break just wants to be alone, but he doesn't see his wish granted. Not while little Sharon Rainsworth is around, at least.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Like a Four-Leaf Clover

**Author's Note:**

> Well, this didn't came out exactly as I had planned (as everything I do, to be honest :P ) but still I really liked to write this :3 Loving Break from the bottom os my heart, I decided I wanted to picture him with little Sharon, before they became as intimate as we see them in the manga :3 This is not romantic, but hell, I ship this ^_^ Let me know what you think if you feel like it :3

            Break was sitting on the grassy ground, back leaned against the thick trunk of a tree in one of the furthest corners of the Rainsworth’s seemingly endless garden. He needed to be there alone, because having everybody nagging around with this and that was just extremely annoying and that, probably unfortunately, had been his only reality for some months now. Since Shelly was out today, Break found that the only moment he could be on his own. Or so he thought.

            “Break-san!”

            Break let out a sigh and kept his eye shut. If he ignored the new comer long enough, maybe she would go away…

            “Break-san!” Little Sharon called again, energetically pulling his sleeve.

            Another long sigh. There was no way he could fake sleep now. Break opened his eye and looked at the little girl beside him with annoyance. “What?” He asked, bluntly.

            Sharon stared back at him with those huge pinkish eyes of hers and pouted, unpleased. “Break-san could be nicer! It is “good morning” the first thing you say to a person when you see her. Mommy told me that.”

            Break though of remembering the child that waking up a person in her ways was also very rude, but he didn’t want Sharon to throw a tantrum, so he complied, closing his eyes again. “I’m very sorry. Good morning, Sharon-Ojou-sama.”

            The Rainsworth’s daughter nodded, satisfied. “Very good.” She declared and then lifted up the thick hard covered book she held in her little hands. “Let’s read, Break-san.”

            Break raised an eyebrow in surprise, not exactly for the words, but for the authoritarian way they had been spoken. The man asked himself how could that child bear such incommensurable presumption at such young age. She took after her mother for sure, Break concluded, with light resentment. He was ripped out of his own thoughts when he heard the girl next to him clear her throat with an offended expression. She shoved the book closer to Break’s face, with no demonstration of notion of personal space.  “I said we will read.”

            The greyish haired man narrowed his eye in irritation.  “So what? Read whatever you want, just let me be.”

            Sharon let out a bored sigh and rolled her eyes. “So I want you to read for me.” She announced, talking as if explaining that completely obvious fact was a bother.

            “Wait, what?” Break snapped. “No way. Read it on your own.”

            “Hum…” Sharon mumbled, thoughtful. “Does that mean you would rather having me reading to you.”

            “Hell no.” He answered directly, completely forgetting he was talking to a kid. No way would he have his peaceful afternoon ruined by that troublesome brat.

            “You should watch your tongue, Break-san.” She advised. “Mommy says you act like a savage.”

            Break took a deep breath and answered in a calm tone. “Listen, why don’t you go back inside? I’m sure it’s much more comfortable for reading.”

            Sharon shook her head. “It is sunny out here. I like the sunny weather. It would be a waste to stay inside. Besides, everybody is occupied and I don’t want to be alone…” The girl murmured, now looking down with her cheeks turning a slight shade of pink.

            But there was no way Break would fall for that. “I bet that four-eyed boy would love to read with you.”

            “Reim-san, you mean.”

            “Yes, that.” Break agreed, shrugging.

            “Reim-san is not available. He is actually in bed right now. He caught a cold, didn’t you know?” _Why would I know?_ , Break asked himself. The girl went on without letting him answer. “Mommy told me not to bother him too much so that he could rest.”

“What about Lady Sheryl?”

“No, she is also occupied doing something else. Mommy says my grandma is a really busy Lady.” Sharon said, an opened smile on her face, showing evidently the admiration she nurtured for her grandmother. “But anyway, it’s better that way. Mommy told me that Break-san would be feeling lonely while she was gone, so I should come and spend some time with him.”

            Break’s eyebrow twitched at the image. Shelly Rainsworth, the woman with the capability of pestering him even when not around. Break had the feeling all the women in that damned Dukedom lived conspiring against him, and he was probably not that far away from the truth. “Well, be assured I’m not feeling lonely at all.”

            “Oh, you don’t need to thank me!” Sharon cheered, calmly looking for a place to sit.

            Break wide opened his eye in surprise. Did the brat not understand he was asking her to go away or was she doing it all on purpose? “Look, I-” The words died in his mouth when he noticed the little girl was no other than sitting on his lap. “Hey…” The white haired man mumbled, his eyebrow twitching from shock and astonishment. “What do you think you’re doing?”

            He was quickly met by huge pink eyes that stared at him with deliberate innocence. “Hum? I am just getting comfortable. I can’t read unless I find a proper place to sit. This place is good enough.” And before Break could even open his mouth to speak, Sharon opened her thick book and started reading out loud. The man let out a deep and apparently endless sigh as he stared up at the shaky leafs of the tree he sat under. That, he thought, sounds heard only the ones of the wind softly blowing in his ears and the acute, loud and determined voice of the child sat practically over him, would not be his so wished afternoon of peace, after all.

            And it was uncomfortable to say the least, for even light as she was, Sharon’s small body over his lap, her back straight as she held the book and her head for few centimetres not hitting Break’s chin, was a proximity he was not used to have, not with the girl, neither with anybody else. But pushing her off, besides being his utter wish at the moment, was out of question, for now, as a servant to the Rainsworth Dukedom, he had vowed loyalty to the family and certainly pushing Shelly’s child mercilessly away would make the woman give him a hard time. So he just stood there, trying to ignore the awkwardness and hoping Sharon would get tired and go away on her own before someone came there to see him in such situation.

            And as peaceful the afternoon was, Break ended up relaxing sooner than he had predicted, for his own surprise. It came that the initial frustration quickly faded and the man found himself really listening to the Rainsworth daughter. Even though young, she read with measured skill already, all words clear and loud, so that no doubt was created about the contents of the text. She recited poem after poem, all of them equally resolute as if reading them for the first time. Or so Break concluded because, in spite of the fact that he couldn’t clearly see her face, he could see her occasionally tilting her head to the side, just to bring it back to its original position, out of instantaneous stubbornness, and it was easy to imagine the girl furrowing her eyebrows in great effort to really understand every word of the book and dig into its meaning. It was funny, almost cute, that way of hers, that innocent dream of growing up, certainly driven from the esteem and wonder she fostered for her mother and grandmother. Even though, for her cocky and overweening nature, Break didn’t want to believe Sharon to be anything else than an annoying brat. It would be infuriating, even pride-menacing, for him to think any other way. Her untouched innocence, glee personality and childish way of thinking reminded him of the child he once loved himself. The one infant he had sworn to protect and that he had killed along with hundreds of other souls because of his own selfish naivety.

            The thought was enough to make him feel sick. It had not been that long since he arrived in this epoch. Still not knowing what he was doing here, still not sure of what he intended to do in here, in this particular place, where he was treated so normally in spite of his origins, it was sometimes easy to forget that he was indeed a monster. Moments like this, standing in the sun, often made him forget how he was not worthy of it all, not after what he had done, not after what he had become. There was nothing but blood on those hands of his, and nothing but regret and hatred in his heart. A shallow one already, full of regret of his previous doings and hatred of himself, for having foolishly condemned his soul to hell. Or to the Abyss, which existence he knew now, he thought, remembering the Will’s words to him.

            “Break-san?”

            The words reached him from far away, and only got to his ears when he felt a small and warm little hand cupping his cheek. He woke up from his thoughts to find Sharon very close to him, her book put down over the grass by her side, eyes now glowing of pale worry. “Is everything okay, Break-san?”

            Break swallowed just to realize how his heart raced. The heavy melancholy boiling inside of his chest caused him to feel ashamed and fight back with anger. He quickly moved to push Sharon’s hand away from his face with no particular kindness. “I’m fine.” He snapped.

            But, once again for his surprise, Sharon wrapped her fingers around the hand the man had lift to keep it still. “You are trembling.” She announced, not with that demanding tone of hers, but with a much softer one. She didn’t look him in the eye right now, but she stared at his hand. “And your hands are cold. Are you sure you are okay?”

            Break hesitated for a second, a really brief one, and then released his hand from hers and moved with intentions to get up. The girl had no other choice but to jump off of his lap, a confused and somehow hurt expression on her face, but Break wasn’t watching and didn’t care, anyway. His words came out as an affirmation, not a question. “Why do you care, anyway.”

            He didn’t bother to say he was going away, he just turned his back to the little kid left standing on her place and walked away. He heard quick footsteps behind him right away but decided to ignore them. It was possible until Sharon grabbed his hand again, this time tighter, not enough to hurt, for she was physically too weak, but hard enough to make a point. Break stopped in his track and looked down, more annoyed than ever, an itching pain coming to life behind his hollow eye socket, ready to yell at her with no restraints, for he was no gentle man, anyway. When he saw her, though, all eventual reaction was wiped out of his mind. Something in Sharon’s expression was so determined that Break was unable to say anything. When the girl talked, her voice mirrored the same feeling. “Of course I do care. You are part of this family now, so I _have_ to care. That’s what we do. We care for our family.”

            Break froze instantly when he heard those loud words. Sharon talked about family and easily included him. It was ridiculous, too much for him to stand still. A sad grin drew itself on his lips as the man let out a pained chuckle. She was too naïve, too stupid for her own good. There was no way, not in this world nor in any other, for him to be part of something as abstract as a family. All of his hopes of that happening, if there had ever been any, would have certainly been slaughtered along with his life when the Abyss sucked him in. There was nothing for him there, he knew that much, but he also knew, somewhere in a dark corner of his mind, that all of that anger he felt was actually poorly disguising a raw and constant pain in his heart. “What could you possibly know about me?” He murmured, only to himself, of course, and stepped forward, shoving his hand to get free from Sharon.

            He stopped right after because Sharon didn’t let go, being dragged forward by his arm. “Let go, already.” He demanded.

            Sharon was looking down now, and only answered shaking her head in denial and her grip tightened even more around the man’s hand. Break sighed to calm himself. Now he was the one being stupid, he decided, for being so oversensitive and getting so angry over such meaningless matter. She was just a little girl, and being rude or violent would only make things worse for himself. So he squatted to meet her face to face, but she kept hiding hers behind her smooth fringe. “Hey.” He called, coldly.

            “I don’t know much.” She whispered, and Break took a while to understand she was answering his previous question. Shyly, the child let go of his hand and opened her book, which she held until then against her chest, and took something out of it. She then looked up, a renewed light shining on her eyes, something easily taken as hope, and as serious a face as a girl her age could manage. “But I know this much!”

            Break had to back away when Sharon shoved her opened hand towards his face. Into that little pale palm of hers, laid a single small clover, green leaves flattened from its previous stay inside the book. Break raised his eyebrow in confusion but took the plant as Sharon wanted. He wondered if it was worth even asking, but he did so anyway. “What do you mean by that?”

            Sharon held the book tighter against her and spoke with a voice that started nervous, but grew excited as she went on. “I was looking for flowers the other day. I love flowers, you know? Mommy does too, so I decided I would find a flower for everyone I know! But when it came to you, I had no idea what would your flower be, for you were so different from everybody else. But then, when I was almost giving up, I found that one!”

            “It is not exactly a flower.” Break stated, feeling something between amusement and boredom by her little tale.

            “I know! But still when I looked at it I immediately thought ‘This is Break!’.”

            The greyish haired man sighed once again, wishing to leave but at the same time compelled by his curiosity to stay a bit longer. “And why would you think such thing?”

            “Because, you see, most of the clovers have three leaves. Though, that one has one more!”

            Break took a closer look at the clover he held now in his hand. She was right, the lonely clover had four leaves instead of the usual three and such made Break smirk. “And that’s what makes it similar to me? I’m also a freak, is that what you mean?”

            “Yes.”

            The answer was so direct that Break froze for a second. She knew how to be rude, didn’t she? Over the surprise, a cold sadness came to his eye. It was true in the end. He was nothing but a freak, a monster, different from all others and with no place to fit in. Just like that clover, perhaps. He couldn’t explain the growing pain in his chest as he unconsciously closed his palm to smash the little clover. “You are right.”

            “N-No!” Sharon protested, running up to him and jumping to reach the man’s hand and slide it open again. “Don’t do that!” Break, mistrusting, looked at her again. The green clover was now crushed, even though still recognizable. Oddly enough, a small smile appeared on Sharon’s face. “It is different from all others, and so it is a freak, in a way. It is also easily misunderstood and very rare. And in spite of that, or maybe _because_ of that, it is this one clover, this one with four leaves, that everyone searches for!”

            Sharon looked up at Break and she seemed now radiant. “It is hard to find, and you have to search a lot to recognize it among all the others, but what makes this four-leaf clover so abnormal makes it also so special! After all, it brings luck!”

            Break opened his mouth, even though not a word came out of it. Why did his heart race that way, touched by such ignorant nonsense? “Maybe that’s why I thought of you back then.” Sharon closed her eyes and tilted her head as she smiled even more. “I feel very lucky I found you, Break-san!”

            And with this, Break had no control over the blood rushing to his face, making his pale cheeks look bright pink. It was ridiculous to be feeling like that, so taken out of guard for the weirdly kind words of a child. And, feeling ashamed as he was, he just stepped back and looked away, refusing to let that vulnerable side of him show, despite being probably too late already. Incredibly enough, that aching pain in his chest had seemed to smooth without his notice. He turned around before speaking. “You should go inside now.”

            He heard Sharon giggling behind him and saying a slow: “Yes. I will.”

            Break turned to see her leave. Suddenly, already some meters away, the girl stopped in her tracks, fists closed, and she turned around, smiling, in spite of being blushing as well. “Mommy told me to look after you.” She announced. “I intend to do so. Besides I…” She hesitated a second, but then talked again, still loud and clear. “I know we are supposed to keep the four-leaf clovers very well, so that we might not lose them. Please cherish that one I offered you. I also will be very careful to keep you next to me, Xerxes-nii-san.”

            And with that, she ran away towards the mansion, fast little steps and harsh little breath. And Break stood there, eyes locked on her silhouette as she got far and far away. He looked down at his hand, at the smashed small green clover and couldn’t help but smile. Maybe Sharon was not only a troublesome kid, after all.

            And maybe, just maybe, Break could stay there, and could protect her, for he suddenly wished it deeply. Maybe it was okay, in spite of all, to start over right here, where there was no blood painting the walls, only ghosts whispering in his ears.

            And maybe, just maybe, he had only needed that four-leaf clover, he had only needed somebody to give it to him.

            _Xerxes-nii-san_ , she had called him. “Ridiculous...” He whispered to himself, but not exactly mad by the childish nickname. Still, with a smile on his face, the man guarded the green plant inside of his pocket and looked up at the blue sky above him. He really felt like keeping that clover, after all.


End file.
